Copyright: a business perspective – a BusinessEurope position paper

Introduction

This paper follows BUSINESSEUROPE’s paper Intellectual property priorities – Unlocking the EU’s intangible assets potential which identifies challenges presented in the field of copyright.

Copyright is important for every company even if the business activities are not directly about content creation. Text, photos and computer programs are produced and/or used by every company. There have been many attempts to harmonise parts of copyright protection. However, within the European Union (EU) copyright protection remains fragmented. A reflection is needed on how to address these concerns.

When approaching this fragmentation, it is vital that businesses speak up and take a business stance not only from the trenches with creators on one side and tech giants on the other. To be able to do that, it is crucial for companies to discuss copyright issues from the overarching business perspective, focusing on competitiveness, foreseeability and, not least, rules that are fit for purpose.

This paper lays out our vision on copyright and how EU copyright legislation could support Europe to meet its competitiveness goals.